SPP 1117: Principles of Biomineralization

生物矿化这个术语描述的是生物体形成无机固体的过程，这是一种最迷人的现象，将生物世界与所谓的死亡无机固体领域联系在一起。生物矿物具有多种生物功能，这些功能依赖于生物有机-无机复合材料在从埃到厘米的几个长度尺度上的分层结构。这种复杂材料的合成超出了当今合成固态化学的范围，在生物启发材料的合成程序能够成功开发之前，必须详细了解生物矿化的自然现象。从这个意义上说，优先方案的目的是通过在生物化学和生物学以及在无机化学和分析化学及相关领域工作的研究小组的合作，阐明生物矿化的基本过程。该计划中的研究是在碳酸钙、二氧化硅和磷灰石三种物质类别上进行的。重要的问题与分子生化基质的结构及其遗传控制的形成有关，与无机前体物种的生物运输有关，与无机固体在生物基质上的成核有关，与无机固体的生物控制生长有关，与生物控制分层有序聚集体的形成有关，以及与生物有机-无机复合材料的结构和功能有关。关于生物矿物的功能的纯生物学研究不在本方案的范围之内，因为这些研究没有显示出与无机固体的层次结构及其形成过程的明确关系。在类似的意义上，试图模仿体外生物矿化过程的特殊方面的合成模型系统必须严格遵守生物系统，并且必须考虑这些过程中已有的信息。

The term biomineralization characterizes the formation of inorganic solids by living organisms, a most fascinating phenomenon joining together the living world with the realm of allegedly dead inorganic solids. Biominerals have a variety of biological functions, which rely on a hierarchical structuring of bioorganic-inorganic composites on several length scales from the Angstrom to the cm scale. The synthesis of such complex materials is out of scope for today¿s synthetic solid-state chemistry, and before bio-inspired materialssynthesis procedures can be developed successfully, the natural phenomenon of biomineralization has to be understood in detail. In this sense, the aim of the priority programme is the elucidation of the basic processes of biomineralization through the cooperative work of research groups working in Biochemistry and Biology as well as in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry and associated fields.The research within the programme is performed on the three substance classes calcium carbonate, silicon dioxide and apatite. Important problems are related to the structure of the molecular biochemical matrix and to its genetically controlled formation, to the biological transport of inorganic precursor species, to the nucleation of inorganic solids on biological matrices, to the biologically controlled growth of inorganic solids, to the biologicallycontrolled formation of hierarchically ordered aggregates as well as to the structure and the functions of the bioorganic-inorganic composite material. Purely biological studies with regard to the function of biominerals are not within the scope of the programme, when they do not show clear relations to the hierarchical structures of the inorganic solids and their formation processes. In a similar sense, synthetic model systems which try to imitate special aspectsof biomineralization processes ex vivo have to adhere strictly to the biological systems and must consider the information which is already available on these processes.